Two business partners to swap stocks worth 500 billion won to work together in digital finance and new technologies, including artificial intelligence at home and overseas; Mirae Asset to challenge bank-centered financial industry

30(Sun), Jul, 2017

Chairman Park Hyeon-joo of Mirae Asset Group delivers his congratulatory speech at a ceremony to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the group at Four Seasons Hotel in Gwanghwamun, Seoul, on July 1.(Photo: Mirae Asset)

"Mirae Asset is 20 years old, but still feels a big thirst for the global financial market. The company will be an eternal revolutionary when it comes to opening new roads in the bank-centered financial industry,” said Chairman Park Hyeon-joo of the Mirae Asset Financial Group in his congratulatory speech at a ceremony for the group’s 20th anniversary. About 350 leading officers and staff, including those from overseas offices, gathered on July 1 for the ceremony at Four Seasons Hotel in Gwanghwamun, downtown Seoul.

In his speech, he kept going back to the word “reform,” quoting from Schumpeter’s words that the original nature of capitalism is the reform that comes from creative destruction. He said its time for Mirae Asset to travel the financial reform road.

He recalled that July 1, 1997 is truly a memorable day “That Mirae Asset we set up became a financial entity that represents Korea’s capital market,” he added.

“Progress and reform that we never have imagined should occur, and investments in the frontline of the 4th Industrial Revolution would also be one of the reforms,” he said, adding that he will focus investments on large projects for start-ups, highway construction, several trillion won worth new and recycled energy, and tourism infrastructure on the South Coast. He also predicted that Mirae Asset will own 600 hotels in the world this year.

Korea's largest search portal Naver forged a strategic alliance with the securities arm of Mirae Asset Financial Group, a leading asset manager, to launch a joint project for digital banking service at home and abroad.

The combination of Naver's platform and Mirae's expertise in financial services are seen as game changers in the competitive financial market, which has been moving fast to online banking. The two companies agreed to team up for artificial intelligence related to digital banking and investment in high-tech start-ups. Mirae Asset Financial Group is set to open its Global Trading Center in Dublin, Ireland, in December this year to manage the group’s financial transactions all over Europe, and take over an ETF to strengthen the financial trading center before the year is out with the year being the 20th anniversary for the group’s launching on July 1, 1997.

Mirae Asset Investment Consultant opened for business on July 1, 1997, later becoming the mother company of Mirae Asset Financial Group. The company changed its name to Mirae Asset Wealth Management. The alliance between Naver and Mirae Asset Daewoo calls for the two companies to purchase shares in each other estimated at 500 billion won ($405 million). Mirae Asset Daewoo said it would buy a 1.71 percent stake in Naver in a block deal.

Mirae Asset Daewoo became South Korea's top securities firm by assets through the merger of Mirae Asset Daewoo Securities and Mirae Asset Securities in December last year. Its first quarterly net income surged 174 percent on-year to 110.2 billion won. The merger underlines the asset manager's aggressive acquisition of real estate and companies.

The deal was the first between a securities firm and a large IT firm, with the owners of the two firms agreeing to work together to develop the digital financial business and support the growth of the start-ups in the 4th Industrial Revolution. They signed the agreement on June 26.

The Dublin trading center will have some 20 experts picked from the group’s facilities in other parts of the world, including Hong Kong, New York and London, to take control of the center’s major dealings in bonds, foreign exchange and securities, among others. Earlier in the year, the chairman said the group will open its trading centers both in Europe and the U.S. and Dublin was chosen for the trading center in Europe. The group is looking for a building to house the center. It is slated to open in December.

Mirae Asset Daewoo was the only Korean securities firm that took part in the 1.5-trillion-won initial public offering (IPO) process of LINE, the Japan-based subsidiary of Naver, according to industry sources.

Mirae Asset Daewoo said its Hong Kong corporate body provided advice and consultation to Japan's Tokai Tokyo Securities to join the process. Market watchers said that Mirae Asset Daewoo Tokyo office's network and relations with LINE worked for the advice. The Korean firm reportedly took hundreds of millions of won from its Japanese counterpart in commissions.

Naver Com was established in 1999, operating the Naver search portal. In 2000, Naver merged with Hangame Communications, Inc., maker of online games, and a couple of other companies. In 2001, Naver Com was renamed to NHN Corporation ("Next Human Network"), although both divisions continued to operate under their original brand names. Naver and Hangame each had established affiliates in Japan in 2000. These likewise merged in October 2003 to become NHN Japan with Naver Japan and Hangame Japan as subsidiaries.